Chapter 59

Mo Daifu didn’t enjoy his good fortune for long; the power of the Yin Soul Curse soon manifested, and he aged at a terrifying rate of one year per day.

He was terrified and tried every means to control the strange phenomena occurring in his body, but with minimal effect.

If this continued, he would naturally die soon, wasting away like an ordinary old man. But fortunately, Yu Zitong’s Primordial Spirit was suffering even more.

After entering Mo Daifu’s body, as time passed, Yu Zitong began to experience the phenomenon of being assimilated by the host’s Primordial Spirit.

“Assimilation” was a passive soul usurpation: an external Primordial Spirit lingering too long inside another’s body would be unconsciously and subtly influenced by the host’s Primordial Spirit, until only one consciousness remained—a brutal phenomenon.

Seeing this, Yu Zitong had no choice but to consider taking the initiative and launching a forced soul usurpation.

His reluctance stemmed not from any sense of benevolence, but from fear of the three ironclad rules of soul usurpation rumored in the cultivation world:

First, a cultivator must never usurp the body of a mortal; otherwise, the host body would collapse under the strain of the act.

Second, only a cultivator with greater spiritual power could successfully usurp a weaker one without backlash; the greater the disparity, the safer the act.

Third, a cultivator could perform soul usurpation only once in their lifetime—attempting a second time would cause the Primordial Spirit to vanish without cause.

These three ironclad laws, unbroken through countless attempts, had restrained countless villains seeking to stir chaos through soul usurpation and cunning souls trying to evade calamity. Heaven still issued warnings against such defiance of nature, refusing to let cultivators turn the world into uncontrollable chaos.

Thus, if Mo Daifu had been a cultivator, Yu Zitong would have feared him less—he could have fought a desperate battle for the body. But Mo Daifu was merely a mortal, possessing not a shred of spiritual power, utterly incapable of withstanding soul usurpation; even halfway through, the body would collapse entirely.

Even if he sought another body to hide in, he could not escape the fate of re-assimilation, facing an even worse predicament. His spiritual power would plummet drastically with each exit and re-entry of his Primordial Spirit, soon vanishing entirely, leaving him trapped inside another’s body until fully assimilated.

He knew that as a Primordial Spirit, he had no body to sit in meditation and replenish his power—every use depleted his reserves, and over time, it would slowly fade. He did not know how long he could endure.

Thus, unless Yu Zitong found a cultivator with low spiritual power who could withstand soul usurpation, he would never again risk separating his Primordial Spirit.

Under the dual pressures of Mo Daifu’s body collapsing from the blood curse—leaving his Primordial Spirit homeless—and the imminent threat of assimilation, the cowardly Yu Zitong, after much deliberation, reluctantly set aside their enmity and contacted Mo Daifu, laying bare the entire situation and its consequences.

Upon hearing this, Mo Daifu initially grew angry, but quickly recognized the great opportunity within. Without hesitation, he struck a three-point agreement with Yu Zitong, revealing his true Xiaoxiong nature.

First, Mo Daifu must control his consciousness as Yu Zitong taught, avoiding assimilation of the other’s Primordial Spirit. In return, Yu Zitong would teach him secret techniques to slow his aging and temporarily grant him spiritual power.

Second, Mo Daifu must find a child with a spiritual root capable of practicing the Evergreen Art, teach him the cultivation method, and when the time was ripe, use his temporary spiritual power to perform soul usurpation and be reborn.

Mo Daifu had once questioned this, wanting to practice the art himself—naturally, he achieved nothing, and was mocked by Yu Zitong, finally realizing that those without a spiritual root could never generate spiritual power—he was, in the cultivators’ terms, a useless Yongren .

Third, after successful soul usurpation, Mo Daifu, with ample time to recover, must help Yu Zitong find a suitable body and assist him in usurping it.

These terms appeared favorable to Mo Daifu, but what else could be done? Yu Zitong’s assimilation loomed before him—he was in a weak position, so he had no choice but to suffer the loss. Whether he truly suffered, only he knew.

During this process, Yu Zitong had suggested Mo Daifu seek help at his family’s secluded retreat, but the experienced Mo Daifu refused outright, unwilling to hand over any leverage—this left Yu Zitong seething with resentment for days to come.

What followed required no further explanation: Mo Daifu failed for several years to find a suitable candidate, lost heart, and entered the Seven Mysteries Sect, where he accidentally took on Han Li as a disciple and taught him the Evergreen Art—events nearly identical to Mo Daifu’s own account, even extending to Han Li’s personal experiences.

After hearing this, Han Li exhaled deeply, and most of his doubts were resolved.

But seeing Yu Zitong fall silent and refuse to continue, Han Li’s expression darkened, and he spoke coldly:

“You haven’t told me yet why Mo Daifu died.”

“There’s nothing to explain—it was simply that Mo Daifu misjudged your progress in the Evergreen Art. His spiritual power was far weaker than yours. He failed to usurp you, and was instead consumed by you.”

“So the yellow orb that first entered my body was Mo Daifu’s Primordial Spirit, and the green one that followed was yours.”

“This… this… I thought you and Mo Daifu had both perished! To avoid wasting the body, I merely intended to borrow it.”

“Hmph! You didn’t just think—you planned it.”

“When you first taught Mo Daifu the soul usurpation technique, you deliberately omitted the critical details: whether success depended on spiritual power.”

“In your original plan, Mo Daifu used his self-mutilating Soul-Devouring Art and your fourth-layer Evergreen Art—both roughly equal in power. Once the usurpation began, you ensured they would destroy each other. Then you, the third party, would reap the benefit, seizing my body and succeeding in your usurpation. Am I right, my dear Yu the cultivator?”

Yu Zitong remained silent for a long while, then sighed, defeated and offering no rebuttal.

“I praised you before only in passing—but now I speak truly: you are remarkably intelligent. You’ve surpassed your teacher, outshining Mo Juren the fox.”

“You guessed correctly—it was all my design. But I never imagined your cultivation talent was so extraordinary. In such a short time, you reached the sixth layer of the Evergreen Art—only one layer below me. You effortlessly consumed Mo Daifu’s Primordial Spirit, and even my own weakened Primordial Spirit was no match for you—I lost even more spiritual energy.”

But his tone shifted abruptly, becoming haughty:

“Mo Juren was merely a mortal. How dare he presume to stand as an equal, to call himself brother to a cultivator? He was unworthy!”

“Worse still, he used vile means to destroy my physical body and dared to seek the Immortal Path—what a ridiculous dream!” Yu Zitong spat, his hatred for Mo Daifu, long suppressed, now fully exposed.

“But you are different. You possess a natural spiritual root, exceptional talent. To waste you in the mortal world is a tragedy. If you help me find a suitable body and assist in my usurpation, I will become your guide, introduce you to my family’s Elders, and have them take you as a disciple. What do you say?”

Wang